Dr. Judith Hochman is an educator and founder of The Writing Revolution. In this episode, she talks to Greg Ashman about the origins of her method for developing writing skills and the contrast between her method and a writing programme. Judy and Greg discuss the differences between this approach and other methods for teaching writing. Along the wa…

Dr. Amanda VanDerHeyden is a mathematics education researcher, founder of Spring Math and a policy Adviser who is also involved in new Science of Math initiative. In this episode, Amanda talks to Greg Ashman about how she developed an interest in class-wide maths intervention and what makes such an intervention successful. Amanda and Greg also disc…

Eric Kalenze is a teacher, curriculum and instruction lead, occasional consultant, researchED US organizer, and author of the books, Education is Upside-Down and What the Academy Taught Us, as well as the A Total Ed Case blog. In this episode, Eric talks to Greg Ashman about his awakening to the research evidence around teaching and education, and …

Glenn Savage is an associate professor at the University of Western Australia who is an expert in education reform and the author of the book, “The Quest for Revolution in Australian Schooling Policy”. In this episode, Glenn talks to Greg Ashman about 'alignment thinking' and asks whether ever greater alignment in education policy is necessarily a …

Daisy Christodoulou was the second guest on this podcast back in 2020. Daisy returns in this episode to talk about writing with Greg Ashman. Daisy and Greg discuss comparative judgement, banal writing prompts, the limits of moderation and the contribution of a knowledge rich curriculum to writing. Along the way, Daisy and Greg chat about quick fixe…

David C. Geary is Curators' Distinguished Professor and Thomas Jefferson Fellow in the Department of Psychological Sciences at the University of Missouri. In this episode, he talks to Greg Ashman about his influential theory of evolutionary educational psychology that categorises knowledge as biologically primary or biologically secondary. Along th…

Paul Ayres is Emeritus Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of New South Wales in Australia. In this episode, Paul talks to Greg Ashman about his journey from classroom teacher in the UK to education professor in Australia. Along the way, Paul and Greg discuss models of human cognitive architecture, mirror neurons, embodied cogniti…

Mandy Nayton is the Chief Executive Officer of The Dyslexia-SPELD Foundation and President of AUSPELD, the Australian federation of SPELD Associations (SPELD is short for Specific Educational Learning Difficulties). In this episode, Mandy talks to Greg Ashman about her journey from governess on an outback station to where she is today. Along the wa…

John Sweller is Emeritus Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, and is probably best know for his work on Cognitive Load Theory. He is also one of Greg Ashman's PhD supervisors. In this episode, John talks to Greg about the development of Cognitive Load Theory, its implications and some of the…

Dr Jenny Donovan is head of the newly formed Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO). Prior to that Jenny has had an influential career in education which has included the founding of the Centre for Education Statistics (CESE) in New South Wales, Australia. In this episode, Jenny talks to Greg Ashman about her journey into education, the …

Sonia Cabell is an Assistant Professor in the School of Teacher Education and the Florida Center for Reading Research at Florida State University. Sonia started out as a second-grade teacher trained in whole language reading instruction before making the move into research. In this episode, Sonia talks to Greg Ashman about her journey, the effects …

Ollie Lovell is a teacher, author, podcaster and entrepreneur. After studying physics and economics, Ollie became a maths teacher in Melbourne where he fed a passion for education research. Recently, Ollie Has written a book on cognitive load theory, Cognitive Load Theory in Action, part of the 'in action' series published by John Catt. In this epi…

Paul Kirschner is Emeritus Professor of Educational Psychology at the Open University of the Netherlands and Guest Professor at Thomas More University of Applied Science in Belgium. In this episode, Paul talks to Greg Ashman about his long career in educational psychology, the key distinction between epistemology and pedagogy and that Minimal Guida…

Natalie Wexler is an author and journalist who became interested in educational issues when she began to work with students in disadvantaged schools in Washington. Natalie is co-author of The Writing Revolution, with Judith Hochman and author of The Knowledge Gap. In this episode, Natalie talks to Greg Ashman about her journey into education, the I…

Emina McLean is an Australian language and literacy expert. In this episode, she talks to Greg Ashman about her training as a speech language pathologist, her imminent career move to a brand new primary school in Melbourne, the science of reading and teacher professional development. Along the way, Emina and Greg discuss the controversies that surr…

In the episode, the tables are turned and Kate Barry, an English and French teacher from Ireland, interviews Greg Ashman about his new book, The Power of Explicit Teaching and Direct Instruction. Greg and Kate discuss Greg's route into teaching, the nature and value of education research, the meaning of the terms 'explicit teaching' and 'direct ins…

David Didau is a teacher, blogger and author of seven books about education. In this episode, David talks to Greg Ashman about how he became a teacher and the writing and blogging journey that has resulted in him changing his views about education over time. David and Greg elaborate on the conditions needed for people to change their minds before t…

Briar Lipson is a research fellow at the New Zealand Initiative. Prior to this, Briar worked in think tanks, became a teacher and assistant principal and was involved in the Free School movement in England. In this episode, Briar talks to Greg Ashman about he newly released book, New Zealand's Education Delusion, and her thesis that child-centered …

Doug Lemov has been a teacher, a school principal, a researcher, a writer and played many other roles in education in the U.S. He is perhaps best known internationally for his practical teaching guide, Teach Like a Champion (TLAC). In this episode, Doug talks to Greg Ashman about the genesis of TLAC, making content relevant to students, reading ins…

Emily Hanford is Senior Correspondent with APM Reports at American Public Media. Over the last few years, Emily has been researching, broadcasting and writing about reading instruction in the United States and it is fair to say that, as a result, she has shifted the dial on the discussion there. In this episode, Emily talks to Greg Ashman about how…

E. D. Hirsch Jr. began his career as a literary theorist. As a result of this work, he became aware of the importance of background knowledge for reading comprehension. However, when he looked to the education system, he found knowledge was undervalued. Since then, he has worked to highlight the importance of knowledge though his numerous books, in…

Jasmine Lane is a teacher and education writer based in the United States. In this episode, Jasmine talks to Greg Ashman about how she became a teacher, why the killing of George Floyd makes it even more important for Black people to fight distraction and disengagement from education, what Shakespeare has to offer kids in the inner city and why lea…

Calvin Robinson is a teacher, podcaster, journalist and consultant to the UK's Department for Education. In this episode, Calvin talks to Greg Ashman about his switch from the computer science industry to teaching, the events surrounding the Brexit referendum and how this played out in the school where he worked at the time, the wider issue of bala…

Dr Jennifer Buckingham is Director of Strategy and Senior Research Fellow at MultiLit, a publisher of evidence-based reading programs and interventions, where she also heads the Five from Five project. In this episode, Jennifer talks to Greg Ashman about how her interest in literacy developed, the evidence for synthetic phonics and the Australian p…

Professor Dan Willingham is a psychologist at the University of Virginia. Dan started out as a cognitive psychology and neuroscience researcher, but an encounter with E. D. Hirsch Jr. led him to take an interest in the application of cognitive psychology to education. In this episode, Dan talks to Greg Ashman about his interest in education, his bo…

Pam Snow is Professor of Cognitive Psychology at La Trobe University in Victoria, Australia. In this episode, she talks to Greg Ashman about her new role in bringing cognitive science to teacher education students and her earlier research into the oral language competency of young people in the youth justice system, before Greg and Pam discuss lite…

Dylan Wiliam is a world famous educationalist and author probably best known for his research on formative assessment. In this episode, he talks to Greg Ashman about how he became interested in formative assessment, what it is and how it became deployed by the UK government as Assessment for Learning, as well as the importance of a knowledge-rich c…

Katharine Birbalsingh is Headmistress of Michaela Community School, a Free School serving inner city London. In this episode, she talks to Greg Ashman about Free Schools, the challenges she faced setting up Michaela, the Michaela approach to learning and to discipline and why everyone should visit and see for themselves. Along the way, Greg and Kat…

Andrew Old is the godfather of UK teacher bloggers. Not only does he write a blog that has influenced UK government policy and OFSTED, the English schools inspectorate, he has encouraged teacher bloggers through his Echo Chamber initiative, as well as promoting teachers' voices more generally. In this episode, Greg Ashman talks to Andrew about math…

Daisy Christodoulou is a former teacher and is currently director of No More Marking, an online engine which aims to help teachers with comparative-judgement assessment of school work. Daisy's influential 2013 book Seven Myths About Education reflected on her work as a teacher and some of the myths she once subscribed to. In this episode, Greg Ashm…

Tom Bennett is the founder of researchED, a grass-roots organisation that raises research literacy in education. In 2015 he became the UK government's school 'Behaviour Czar', advising on behaviour policy. In the first ever Filling The Pail podcast, Greg Ashman talks to Tom about classroom behaviour, researchED, remote learning, Tom's role as a gov…

Join Shawn and Greg for a discussion about the latest films they have been catching up with in 2013 (Argo, Looper, most notably the coming of age flick, “The Perks of Being A Wallflower) as well as the best of what is to come in Summer 2013. Thanks for listening. Please feel free to leave us comments/questions at [email protected], Twitter, …

Welcome back! In this this geeky, spoilery edition of the podcast, Shawn and Greg get together after an extra long hiatus to discuss the summer blockbuster, Star Trek: Into Darkness. We talk up the success of the film, how it fits into the Star Trek canon, its strengths and weaknesses and what we would like to see in future returns to Trek, especia…

Hey everybody, welcome back to our show after what has been an EXTRA long hiatus. But we are back to get caught up on some of the films we have been taking in this summer season. On this episode, Shawn and Greg break down their thoughts on two of this summer season’s early blockbusters, the rebooted “The Amazing Spider-Man” starring Andrew Garfield…

Welcome back to another episode of Zero Pretension. We are back with our long awaited podcast episode on Marvel’s “The Avengers”. Frances is back and we dish on our favorite character moments, the Whedon-esque factor and the film as a whole as a piece of large scale blockbuster entertainment. Again, we would love to get your feedback, please feel f…

Welcome back to the show after an extra long hiatus!! Shawn and Greg bring you another late night podcast to talk about their most anticipated movies of 2012. What really ended up happening was mostly a big chat about a lot of the upcoming summer films of this year including the Ridley Scott”s upcoming Sci-fi Alien(prequel?) “Prometheus”, the Marve…

Well, it is just after the opening weekend of “The Hunger Games”, the film adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ mega selling young adult dystopian trilogy and the world was DEFINITELY watching. With a worldwide gross of over 200 million in just a little over three days, the film has not only managed to reel in both casual movie goers and hard core fans b…

Well, we might almost be into a quarter of 2012, but that didn’t stop hosts Greg and Shawn from staying up late, sacrificing sleep and chatting well into the night about their favorite films of 2011… you know what they say… slow and steady… Send coffee!! Be sure to leave us any questions/comments at [email protected] and follow us on Twitter…

BACK TO THE FILMS!! After many months we finally get back to doing what we started Zero Pretension to do reviewing films. During this episode Greg and Shawn review SEVEN fun holiday romps, and ONE B Movie Christmas Alien Invasion movie, and trust us when we say that we are beginning the Oscar letter writing campaign TODAY!! We are calling the BEST …

THE CURSE IS OVER!! We are finally back in the land of the podcasts, and after almost 2 months we have finally managed to avoid technical difficulties, stomach flus, and horrible head colds. During this episode Greg and Shawn finally manage to get to the overly hyped and frequently teased changing media episode. Also, during this episode we discuss…

Haaaaapy Halloweeeeeeeeen (in dulcet, creepy Vincent Price tones)!! Welcome back to Zero Pretension for our Horror Movie Special! This week, Shawn, Greg and Frances are joined by special guest Ricky D from the Montreal-based e-zine and podcast Sound On Sight to discuss our favourite horror films. We discuss everything from the old classics that con…

ZOMBIES! ZOMBIES! ZOMBIES! Welcome to Episode 10 and our zombie apocalypse show. In this episode Frances and Shawn discuss everything zombies from Season 2 of The Walking Dead, our favourite zombie films, to finally we share some of our top zombie survival tips including hiding in a maximum security prison. The criminals may be your new BFF. Oh and…

Well after a long hiatus we are back with our New Fall Show Preview. In this episode Frances and Shawn go Gregless (Hell we aren’t even sure he watches TV anyway). From the short lived The Playboy Club to Fox’s new Mega Hit Terra Nova, we cover 9 of this years new shows, and trust me it isn’t all good. Shows Reviewed: Pan Am, The Playboy Club , Unf…

Well it is time. We FINALLY get to our long teased The Walking Dead episode, and there was no better time to introduce our BRAND NEW cohost. Our good friend Frances Maxwell joins us as our third voice and she brings with her an obsession with Zombies. During this episode we discuss Frank Darabont’s ground breaking television show and how it relates…

Welcome to the Second Zero Pretension/Critical Mass Cast Simulcast (Yes it happened faster then WE thought it would). In this episode Greg, Corey, and Shawn break down our Mid-Summer movies with a HEAVY emphasis on action films (mainly Captain America). Oh and Greg and Shawn almost have a fight. So site back and enjoy the bloodletting. Films Review…

Welcome to the FIRST Zero Pretension and Critical Mass Cast Simulcast, but don’t worry Zero Pretension fans you get it FIRST (mainly because Shawn is faster then Greg at these things). In this episode Shawn and Greg welcome CriticalMassCast cohosts Cindy Alexander and Corey Pierce to a discussion about the end of an era. The Harry Potter franchise …

Our second adventure into what would become Zero Pretension. In this episode we reviewed Predators, Tron, and Zombie Land. Oh and Shawn goes off on a major rant concerning the merits of the Action Film, and why they are such a HUGE part of the Hollywood landscape. DOWNLOAD LINK http://criticalmasscast.com/podcasts/episode17.mp3 Intro track: Fett’s …

Where it all started. The GREAT experiment CriticalMassCast Episodes 15.5 A and 15.5 B presented for the first time as they were originally recorded. Uncut at their full 1.5 hr time frame. Here we talked about IronMan II, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, A-Team, Clash of the Titans, Sherlock Homes, Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief, and the then brand n…

The voyage of the man who grew to be the MOST iconic Superhero of them all has come to an end. However this is not the story of Superman, but of Clark Kent and those who loved, hated, and helped shape the legend. In this episode Greg and Shawn are joined by their good friend Frances Maxwell in a tribute to the LONGEST running North American Science…

Welcome back to ZeroPretension. In this episode we will break down one of the fundamental reasons for the formation of ZeroPretension. Aka Shawn’s violent spazmatic tick caused by the phrases “So we saw this movie at TIFF” or “Hot Docs”. Why is it that The Oscars seem to be become less and less relevant, and how do last year’s critical darling’s si…